Comparison

Microprism vs Kiek

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Microprism

Features
Read full description

Your photos, honest. Microprism captures pure, unfiltered RAW: the scene as your lens actually saw it, with the heavy computational processing turned all the way down. No smoothing, no watercolor skies, no invisible "fixes." Just your shot. THE LOOK OF EARLY PHONE PHOTOS, DONE RIGHT Remember when phone pictures had character, with warm tones, real grain, a little glow and a soft vignette? Microprism brings back that early-smartphone, filtered-feed feeling with retro looks you apply on your terms: β€’ Warm, faded color and moody high-contrast fades β€’ True black & white, from crunchy and neutral to soft and cool β€’ Cinematic and classic emulsion grades with real grain, bloom and halation Every look is drawn by hand, not borrowed. The retro looks soften detail on purpose, the way early phone photos did. The cinematic looks keep every pixel. A COACH THAT CATCHES IT BEFORE YOU SHOOT Turn on the coach and it watches the frame with you: closed eyes, a backlit face, a tilted horizon, a cut-off hand, a cluttered background, a shaky grip, even a smudged lens. It tells you what you can do right now (move, reframe, wipe the lens, wait for the light), and after the shot it can offer a quick note on what worked. It never edits your photo for you, and it only speaks up when you ask. SHOOT MORE, OVERTHINK LESS Not sure what to point at? Microprism sends you gentle creative prompts, little photo challenges like "shoot in black & white" or "find something green," to get you out and shooting. Tap one and the camera opens ready in a matching look. A REAL CAMERA UNDER THE HOOD β€’ Full manual control over focus, exposure, ISO, shutter and zoom, plus aperture on iPhone 18 Pro β€’ RAW capture, with optional Apple ProRAW β€’ Full manual control over focus, exposure, ISO, shutter and zoom β€’ Tap a face to lock focus and exposure on it β€’ Live histogram, focus peaking and zebra stripes β€’ Software long exposure for light trails and silky water β€’ Video that records with your chosen look applied, live β€’ Works with Camera Control, Shortcuts, widgets and Control Center STUDIO: YOUR SHOT, REDEVELOPED Come back to any RAW shot, or import one from Photos, and give it a new look anytime. Crop freely or to a classic ratio, straighten and fine-tune, or turn it into a screen-print halftone or a two-ink riso duotone on textured paper. Your original is never touched. Save to Photos or export to iCloud Drive when you're done. FREE TO START, YOURS TO UNLOCK Download free and start shooting: honest RAW capture, a set of sample looks, and the exposure coach are on the house. One simple, one-time unlock, never a subscription, opens the full look catalog, Studio, video, long exposure, and the full coach. YOURS, AND ONLY YOURS Microprism runs entirely on your device, coach included. No account, no sign-up, no tracking, nothing is collected. Your photos never leave your phone unless you choose to share them. Shoot honest. Finish with feeling.

About

Kiek

Features
Read full description

Kiek is a single-stock point and shoot for iPhone. It does not use the iPhone's own processing, such as Smart HDR or Deep Fusion. Each photograph is a single RAW exposure, developed with Kiek type 1. Kiek saves all your developed photographs to Photos, including the RAW files. In the lab you can see every photograph you took with Kiek. After taking a photograph with Kiek, you can make edits in the darkroom. Change exposure, white balance and tint, without losing quality. Kiek develops the photograph again from its RAW file. Your edits are saved to Photos automatically, and you can copy an edit from one photograph and paste it onto others. You don’t need an account to use Kiek. No photograph and no data about you leaves the phone. Kiek only uses the internet to check the subscription with the App Store. Kiek works on any iPhone that shoots RAW, with iOS 17 or later. The first week is free. Then the subscription renews every month until you cancel it in the App Store. Without a subscription, the lab and the darkroom stay open. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Microprism4 screens
Kiek4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Kiek at 17.0 against Microprism's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Microprism sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Kiek sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Microprism ships an update every 3 weeks, Kiek every 10 days. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
Microprism versus Kiek: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMicroprismKiek
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 10 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS26.017.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size15 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRyan McGeeBeeld Directory

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Microprism

One-time1
  • Unlock Microprism$9.99
1 purchases

Kiek

Subscriptions1
  • kiek7 Days trial$0.991 Month

Questions

Is Microprism free?
Microprism is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Kiek free?
Kiek is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Microprism or Kiek have ads?
Neither Microprism nor Kiek shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Microprism or Kiek?
Microprism ships an update every 3 weeks, and Kiek every 10 days. Most recently, Microprism was updated on November 6, 2026 and Kiek on November 6, 2026.

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